Question 1

Why use фотоаппарат here instead of камера?

Accepted Answer

While камера is widely used today (especially for video cameras, webcams, or smartphone lenses), фотоаппарат specifically refers to a dedicated still-photography camera. A Russian speaker will usually call their phone's camera камера, but a standalone digital or film camera is a фотоаппарат.

Question 2

Does the Russian word фокус mean exactly the same things as "focus" in English?

Accepted Answer

Only partially. In optics and photography (as in this sentence), they match perfectly. However, for mental concentration, Russians use концентрация or verbs like сосредоточиться. Interestingly, фокус is also the standard Russian word for a magic trick!

Question 3

How can I easily remember the gender of abstract nouns like резкость?

Accepted Answer

Резкость (sharpness) is formed from the adjective резкий (sharp) plus the suffix -ость, which is equivalent to the English suffix "-ness". Nouns ending in -ость are almost always feminine, which is why it takes the feminine adjective плохая in this sentence.

Question 4

Could we use из-за того, что instead of потому что here?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you could say из-за того, что фотоаппарат потерял фокус. Both mean "because," but из-за того, что heavily emphasizes a direct physical cause or an obstacle (literally "out of the fact that"). For a standard, neutral explanation of why a photo turned out bad, потому что is perfectly natural.

Резкость плохая, потому что фотоаппарат потерял фокус.

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